Help me get rid of my nightly visitors!!!!!

[rlhagan56]

As I wrote in my first post, Tomcat bait stations protect you flock and other animals from getting access. I'm not stupid enough to use poison that would get to my very expensive poultry! And I don't like mice pee and poop all over, refering to miniflock's post.

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

As I wrote in my first post, Tomcat bait stations protect you flock and other animals from getting access. I'm not stupid enough to use poison that would get to my very expensive poultry! And I don't like mice pee and poop all over, refering to miniflock's post.

Please use quotes so we don't have to hunt things down .... Thank You.

 

[rlhagan56]

I pretty much repeated the post and poster. I just want to assure anyone that those bait stations are safe, and rodents drag in every nasty thing they can. I'll use quotes next time.

 

[NguyenjaStars]

Poisoning rats ends up poisoning other animals in the ecosystem that feed on them like eagles, owls and hawks and other predators. Poisoned rats may get trapped in places that are hard to remove them. Nothing worse than decomposing rats in the crawl spaces. Snap traps are more humane. As a bonus, your chickens will love the treat! Another option is to get a farm cat that is a good mouser.

 

[jschlaegel]

Follow-up on previous answer....
The key is persistence and multiple methods. I've tried many [various baits, traps, water dunkers, etc.] and all will catch a few, but they learn quickly, and some just get to be too expensive and a pain to monitor or set up. So in the coop at night, a commercial quality rat trap, baited with a tiny bit of peanut butter mixed with cocoa. When baiting for rats, more is NOT better. A smaller amount, pressed down into the holder, will get better results. I put the trap under a milk crate to keep the chickens away until I take it out of the coop in the morning. The rats aren't deterred by the milk crate. Outside the coop, I keep a couple "gauntlet" tunnel traps, which are nothing more that a wooden box made to contain four commercial rat traps in a row. Made with scrap fence planks, and sized to just allow the traps to lay in there and the trip bail to freely trip and kill the rat. The biggest problem with trapping rats is that they are usually faster than the trap. With the tunnel trap, there is zero place for them to jump to avoid getting killed. Bait is placed only in the center, and they crawl in the reduced openings from either end, and must walk across the non-baited traps to get to the bait. They don't make it. You can buy a case of a dozen of the commercial traps with the very strong springs online for pretty cheap to make multiple tunnels. I've caught 3 at a time in the tunnel traps.
For poison, the various plaster of Paris formulas I found just as effective, and for pennies on the dollar. Wall texture is basically plaster of Paris, and works fine as a very cheap substitute. A little cocoa added to the mix of chicken scratch, plaster of Paris, and sugar also helps to work as an attractant. It's non-toxic, but kills them dead by clogging a rats digestive system. Just fill a small bowl, and put it under something that a rat will find its way into, but stay dry and keep other critters from eating it.
So after wasting a lot of time and lots of money working on the very heavy infestation last year, these three seemed to work the best, with the least amount of effort and money. Of course, the pellet gun is still fun, but won't rid you of the majority of them. But shooting them while they're running in the avocado tree at night with the headlamp on is quite fulfilling.
So no dead chickens, chicks, keets, or ducklings this year from rat attacks. Nothing worse than seeing half your brooder stock eaten or killed by rats that got in a hole you missed, or you favorite chicken laying in the corner of the coop with its head eaten off. I hate rats, and thankfully, now see very few, and the few I do see, are to pull out of a trap to throw over in the field for the turkey vultures.

 

[kabuky]

I have live trapped a possum and released it onto the nearby HUGE Fort Lewis property - all woods, etc. I cannot kill an animal, even lousy rats. I would do the same with rats (release them onto government property with no houses for miles).
That said, I don't use poison - I have too many cats and dogs who think dead animals are a tasty treat. I have built an enclosed chicken/quail pen with ½" hardware cloth surrounding the entire thing, including the floor. My birds are safe enclosed in their little world. I can easily see where the rats have tried to burrow under but to no avail. I am currently expanding the enclosure and plan to do the same. It has been the only way I have found to protect the eggs, quail, et al. I didn't bury the wire, just made sure there are no holes in the wiring anywhere. I haven't had a rat inside for over a year. These are my pets. Now if I could only keep the dogs away!!

 

[3KillerBs]

I have live trapped a possum and released it onto the nearby HUGE Fort Lewis property - all woods, etc. I cannot kill an animal, even lousy rats. I would do the same with rats (release them onto government property with no houses for miles).

You have no right to do this.

If it is not YOUR LAND PERSONALLY it is immoral -- and possibly illegal -- to release vermin there..

 

[kabuky]

Follow-up on previous answer....
The key is persistence and multiple methods. I've tried many [various baits, traps, water dunkers, etc.] and all will catch a few, but they learn quickly, and some just get to be too expensive and a pain to monitor or set up. So in the coop at night, a commercial quality rat trap, baited with a tiny bit of peanut butter mixed with cocoa. When baiting for rats, more is NOT better. A smaller amount, pressed down into the holder, will get better results. I put the trap under a milk crate to keep the chickens away until I take it out of the coop in the morning. The rats aren't deterred by the milk crate. Outside the coop, I keep a couple "gauntlet" tunnel traps, which are nothing more that a wooden box made to contain four commercial rat traps in a row. Made with scrap fence planks, and sized to just allow the traps to lay in there and the trip bail to freely trip and kill the rat. The biggest problem with trapping rats is that they are usually faster than the trap. With the tunnel trap, there is zero place for them to jump to avoid getting killed. Bait is placed only in the center, and they crawl in the reduced openings from either end, and must walk across the non-baited traps to get to the bait. They don't make it. You can buy a case of a dozen of the commercial traps with the very strong springs online for pretty cheap to make multiple tunnels. I've caught 3 at a time in the tunnel traps.
For poison, the various plaster of Paris formulas I found just as effective, and for pennies on the dollar. Wall texture is basically plaster of Paris, and works fine as a very cheap substitute. A little cocoa added to the mix of chicken scratch, plaster of Paris, and sugar also helps to work as an attractant. It's non-toxic, but kills them dead by clogging a rats digestive system. Just fill a small bowl, and put it under something that a rat will find its way into, but stay dry and keep other critters from eating it.
So after wasting a lot of time and lots of money working on the very heavy infestation last year, these three seemed to work the best, with the least amount of effort and money. Of course, the pellet gun is still fun, but won't rid you of the majority of them. But shooting them while they're running in the avocado tree at night with the headlamp on is quite fulfilling.
So no dead chickens, chicks, keets, or ducklings this year from rat attacks. Nothing worse than seeing half your brooder stock eaten or killed by rats that got in a hole you missed, or you favorite chicken laying in the corner of the coop with its head eaten off. I hate rats, and thankfully, now see very few, and the few I do see, are to pull out of a trap to throw over in the field for the turkey vultures.

Very good!! Thanks for the ideas!! Would my cats/dogs be ok eating a dead rat with this plaster of Paris or would their guts also be clogged?? Interesting and THANK YOU!!

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

I pretty much repeated the post and poster. I just want to assure anyone that those bait stations are safe, and rodents drag in every nasty thing they can. I'll use quotes next time.

I agree .... I have used bait stations (Tom Cat) for years and do not have a rat or mouse problem, nor have I ever found a dead rat or mouse any where on the 20 acre property. Don't know where they go to die but I never see them. Which must make it hard for other animals to find and eat them .... just saying.

 

[rlhagan56]

Poisoning rats ends up poisoning other animals in the ecosystem that feed on them like eagles, owls and hawks and other predators. Poisoned rats may get trapped in places that are hard to remove them. Nothing worse than decomposing rats in the crawl spaces. Snap traps are more humane. As a bonus, your chickens will love the treat! Another option is to get a farm cat that is a good mouser.

Awh, I see you are in CA. which explains a lot. Far removed from the wide open high desert area I live in. What goes for you does not go well here.